The BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes can carry certain mutation which can increase a women's susceptibility of getting breast cancer by 80%. After finding out that their likeliness of getting breast cancer are up 80% some have an option of a mastectomy which removes the breasts and can prevent the diseases by 90%. In the study they followed the data of 1,600 women with the BRCA genes from 9 countries. Half of the women got mastectomies and half did not. Of the half that did go through with the mastectomy there were 20 cases of breast cancer and 2 deaths. However, of the half who did not get the mastectomy there were 100 cases of breast cancer and 7 deaths.
In my opinion I think it is great that women have the option and ability to chose whether or not they receive a mastectomy. It does make me wonder in the future if there would be anything genetically we could figure out instead of having women either get a mastectomy or have an 80% chance of getting breast cancer. Overall, I'm glad that they can catch it early in some cases now within an individuals genes and hope that it keeps saving lives in the process.
Link: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2024-02-20/preventive-mastectomies-may-save-lives-of-women-with-breast-cancer-genes
Additional Link: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/breast-cancer/symptoms-causes/syc-20352470